


Cold-Blooded

by treesided_triangle



Category: Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types
Genre: Enemies to Lovers, M/M, Rating May Change
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-11-21
Updated: 2019-11-21
Packaged: 2021-02-18 12:36:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,638
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21511162
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/treesided_triangle/pseuds/treesided_triangle
Summary: Roughly a month after the 'Hardeen affair'.Recent attacks on Republic outposts over various systems have shaken stability and safety, but the terrorist's goal was not only to show the weakness of the Republic and the Jedi. When confidential information slips into the wrong hands, Kenobi is tasked with finding the criminal thought to be the leader of the group.However on his mission the Jedi runs into a man he thought gone and locked up, and both must fight to keep their ground as past memories bleed into the present.
Relationships: Cad Bane/Obi-Wan Kenobi
Comments: 8
Kudos: 38





	Cold-Blooded

**Author's Note:**

> Heyy thought you'd seen the last of me, sike   
> I recently binge watched all of Clone Wars (bit late to the party, I know, but I never payed much attention to the show previously) and I fell head over cowboy boots for Cad Bane. The Hardeen arc sold me on it, I just had to write for this ship. I ship Obi-Wan with pretty much anybody anyway lmao  
> The plot of this is still a garbling mess, but I needed to write something for Bane/Obi-Wan before I lose my mind. So enjoy this little introduction!

Obi-Wan ran his hands along the armour he was wearing. Carefully he traced along the outlines of hard and durable plating that was covering him, stopping to feel at scratches and dents where punches had landed and bullets had grazed. His hands travelled until he reached the collar, fitted with white fur. The material was soft underneath his fingers, and it ran along collar and sleeves of the old vest, familiar as if it had never left their touch. It had been stolen, originally, yes, but it was his now. It had become his the moment he took it, and oh how often he wished that he hadn't. 

He glanced up into the mirror again, both loving and hating what he saw, what he hadn't seen for a long while and didn't think he'd ever _want_ to look at again.  
It was Rako Hardeen's armour; cunning sniper, skillful bounty hunter, his own personal murderer. A role he played that should be long forgotten by now, but most certainly wasn't - it hummed somewhere at the back of his mind still, a weak tone, that desire for heart pumping freedom and for living on the edge. Obi-Wan knew he shouldn't let that quiet hum turn into a melody, turn into a song, drum away at his mind as it was, but it rose from its empty grave now, and with certainty did it grip him. But so did sadness, a sinking desire and regret that drowned the Jedi in the weight of the decisions he'd had to make. The mountain of lies he had told to those he held dearest had crushed him as well and these broken bones had yet to heal. 

With a heavy breath he shifted, forcing his eyes off the reflection with it. This wasn't right. To dwell on the past wasn't right, to let his focus drift away and latch onto anything but the present was a mistake, yet he found himself longing for old memories so very deeply shrouded in lies and deceit. The bed in his quarters sank and gave a small squeaking sound as he let his weight sink into it, supported his head with one of his hands, closed his eyes and tried once more to focus. 

He didn't know why he had kept the armour, and frankly there was no logical explanation to it. It was a good looking outfit, he had told himself as he didn't get rid of it immediately once the mission was over, and it was still being a good looking outfit while sitting in his cabinet for about a month now. It wasn't about that, this he knew, yet he kept lying to himself as he had managed to fool everybody else. It was what it reminded him of that led him to keep it. A different life, memories and emotional value - such a very volatile matter. 

Pinching the bridge of his nose with one hand, he noticed he still wore one of the gloves, then pulled the damn thing off immediately as if it had been burning his skin and he had only now noticed. He let himself fall back into the mattress, attempting to calm himself and focus on the cool temperature of the sheets beneath his head.   
However the helmet of Hardeen still lay to the right side of him near the pillow, and though he turned his head away it felt like it was still in his line of vision. Stirring up this pool of memories left him so very weak, and he wished deeply that it didn't. Drifting within the flow of the Force, an endless river of emotions enclosed Obi-Wan and drowned him in waves that should long have arrived at the shore and died in splashes of bubbling white. He'd never break through to the surface and be able to breathe again, it was an unending conflict within himself that only he could fix - only he didn't know how, of if, he ever could.   
Obi-Wan grabbed the helmet. He held it above him, thumbs softly stroking along the sides of it. The dim reflection of his eyes got caught in the visor, and he felt the need to punch at it until he'd have to call up a Med-droid to remove the splinters from his knuckles. 

There was more than one dent in the old helmet, and he knew he was responsible for the vast majority of them. He ran one finger along a particularly deep scratch, the valley a bullet had left in its wake at the side of the helmet. One that would have surely cost him the double life he'd led, had Bane not pushed him out of the way in time. Another noticable mark, not as deep as the first one but still a dip of his fingers where they felt along the metal - he had taken a blow from a blaster hilt while desperately shielding the other bounty hunter from the back in the heat of a fight. And the deep cut in the metal right beneath it, when Bane had--

A groan of deeply rooted frustration ripped itself from Obi-Wan's throat, echoing faintly off the room's walls as if in mockery. He threw the helmet away again, then rolled onto his side to stare at the mindless grey colour that covered the quarter's walls and floor. Even the beds felt lackluster, simple white sheets on hard mattresses. He wasn't complaining, of course, interior decoration was of little concern when constructing a spaceship, let alone one as big as this. He sometimes found himself wishing that the state of his mind could copy the vast, blank emptiness of these corridors. 

The blinking and shrill noise of his comlink unexpectedly pulled the Jedi out of his thoughts, and it took him a moment to locate where he had put it. 

"Obi-Wan! Master, come in!" 

He grabbed the small device from the bedside table, and answered after taking a deep breath in order to sound calmer than he truly was. 

"Master, do you hear? Obi-Wan!" 

"Yes, yes, I'm here. The repeated calling of my name definitely helped you in that matter.", Kenobi finally answered. 

"Good, it's good you're there. Listen-", the voice pleaded, and Obi-Wan was almost certain it belonged to Ahsoka, though it was rather hard to tell with all the background noise surrounding her. 

"Where is Anakin?", Obi-Wan couldn't help but ask, since Anakin had been tasked with this mission alongside his Padawan, and there had been an alarmingly one-sided amount of bickering and sass in this conversation so far.

"He's with me. He's-- fine, somewhat- But our ship has been-"

A sudden explosion caused her to yelp, and whatever she had tried to say was caught inside her throat for a moment. But she pushed on, voice now a little louder and more panicked, "-has been damaged-- well, damaged is an understatement-" 

"Blown to pieces, would be a better description, Snips", came a comment from Anakin. A pang of worry hit Obi-Wan, as the younger man's voice sounded like it was pressed through gritting teeth and pain. 

He heard Ahsoka shush the other, telling him to rest and not move. Only a muffled grunt came as response from her Master. 

"Have you called for reinforcements?", Obi-Wan asked her. 

"Yes, but it will take time for them to arrive, there is still some resistance from enemy forces. Which is why I'm calling you." 

"Ahsoka, you know I'm about six systems away from--" 

"That's not what I'm meaning to ask. Master, the Republic base here has been hit bad, but now we know who's behind it.", Ahsoka started, but was cut off by Anakin who continued her explanation, though not very concisely. 

"It's one of those filthy hunte-- ah, bounty hunters again, that egoistical, Hutt-licking--" 

Ahsoka jumped in once more, voice filled with worry. "Anakin! Lie back down, here. Rest against the crate.", she said. 

With a sigh she then picked up where she left off, clarifying who had plotted the attack. It turned out to be not one lone bounty hunter, as previously thought, but multiple. The group had carried out their plans to create a distraction big enough to gather a huge batch of sensible information from the base's databanks, including security codes and confidential transmissions.   
The leader of the group, thought to be behind similar attacks over the last few weeks, was a Twi'Lek woman named Shelaak Al Me'kal. The comlink in Obi-Wan's hand lit up with newly received data. Her file.

"As I said she has not done this alone, but she is our primary target. She's in possession of the data, and has left the planet already. You'll have to go after her, we can't follow.", Ahsoka explained, then added, "At least not until the reinforcements bring us another ship." 

"I'll do what I can, Ahsoka. Thank you.", Obi-Wan said, but didn't hang up yet. "Please, take good care of 'Skyguy'." 

"I will. Thank you, Master." 

"A few broken ribs never hurt nobody--", said Anakin. 

"Master, quiet!" 

Despite their situation, a soft chuckle left Kenobi as he ended the call. This was quite a predicament those two were in, but nothing they couldn't handle together. The Force would hopefully be quick in helping to heal whatever wounds Anakin had, and with Ahsoka to defend him and reinforcements not too far, Obi-Wan would not let his worry climb up too high.

He pushed himself off the bed, then inspected the data they had given him. A tracking device had been placed on the criminal's shuttle, Anakin's idea for sure.   
And her ship was on course to-- now, this was bad. 

Obi-Wan grabbed his lightsaber, placing it on a loop in his belt where grenades usually sat, and headed towards the hangar bay, each step quicker than the one before it.


End file.
